As part of the most recent visit of the members of the Board of financial supervision (College financieel toezicht – Cft), various representatives of the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles had meetings with Cft. In the Cft office on Curaçao the Cft members met with a number of lieutenant governors, commissioners, the minister of Finance and public workers of the five island territories and the Netherlands Antilles.
The representatives had also meetings amongst each other; the BES-islands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) shared their experiences with Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands Antilles. The BES-islands have been under financial supervision for one year and a half now, since end of 2007 – thus one year longer than Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands Antilles. Another important subject of discussion was the execution reports of all five islands.
Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands Antilles
The island territories Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the country Netherlands Antilles have submitted their first report. It took some time to develop the right format in which the reports have to be presented. Previously the Board had indicated that improvement was required on the way the relationship between management and means was being reflected. Therefore an instrument was developed to be used by the Executive Councils and the Council of Ministers. This format should allow the Executive Councils and the Council of Ministers to manage and direct more precisely. The first experiences with this format will illustrate whether, and in which way, the format needs to be adapted to help fulfill its purpose in the best possible way.
Reserved
With regard to the content of the reports, the Board is somewhat cautious in drawing conclusions, based on this first report. Not only is this only the first time that the reporting will take place in this manner, moreover, the report only covers the first three months. The Board is consequently very interested in the second report, which is due mid August. The Board is however of the opinion that Curaçao will need to put some effort in a number of areas.
BES-islands
The developments on the BES-islands were also discussed. Only Bonaire has submitted a complete execution report on the first quarter, with the accompanying budget adjustment. In the meantime this adjustment has received a positive advice from the Board and was adopted by the Island Council this week. The adjustment will now be submitted to the Board for a final approval.
Best practices
The three BES-islands had the opportunity to share their best practices with the others, based on the consideration that the islands can learn a lot from each other. Bonaire for example could explain how preceding supervision on personnel costs works, and how this method has been carried out for more than a year now. Preceding supervision means that the Executive Council will present a proposed obligation to the Board of financial supervision prior to entering into same. Sint Eustatius spoke about various activities in the area of subsidy management and the system of the persons authorized to make payments from the budget. Saba lastly discussed the management of the granting of advances and the way the claiming of travel expenses is being managed.
Financial system
Finally the BES-islands exchanged experiences in dealing with the new financial system. This system has been implemented beginning of 2009. The introduction of a new system does not entail that it will immediately work perfectly; indeed there was some inevitable trouble. Furthermore the personnel of the various Finance departments still need to get more experience in working with the system.
Executive Councils
The Board looks back on a successful and constructive meeting. In a few months, during the next visit of the Board members, the Board will meet again with the Executive Councils of all island territories. During the next visit the Board shall be accompanied by the newly appointed secretary of the Board, Mr. Geert Bergsma. As per July 1st 2009, Mr. Bergsma is the successor to the first secretary of the Board, Mr. Ray Thuis.